`Stella' Mocks Mainstream, Hilariously

November 21, 2004|By KENNETH PARTRIDGE; Special To The Courant

In the early '90s, anyone who cared about politics and celebrity impersonations had, in ``Saturday Night Live,'' sketch-comedy nirvana. For teen and pre-teen Weezer fans just discovering sarcasm and skateboards, though, jokes about Leona Helmsley probably didn't mean a whole lot. Thankfully, as it often did before the onset of reality programming, MTV had the answer: ``The State.''

Arguably one of the funniest shows of the decade, ``The State'' featured characters such as a boy with bologna sandwiches for feet, and Barry and LeVon, who habitually rubbed their buttocks in ``$240 worth of pudding.'' On Friday night, three of the show's stars, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain, brought their hilarious ``Stella Comedy Show'' to the Pearl Street Nightclub in Northampton.

Although all three have found success post-``State,'' Black is the troupe's most recognizable face. Between his stint on NBC's ``Ed'' and a number of unforgettable appearances on Vh1's ``I Love the '80s,'' he's defined ironic detachment for the 20-something male; ``Stella'' took this definition and multiplied it by three.

The show featured ongoing banter that would occasionally lead into a specific sketch. One such riff had Wain and Black surprising Showalter with his long-lost high school crush, only to then take turns making out with her (and worse) while he looked on heartbroken and furious. In another great bit, each performer shared his favorite ``party jam''; Black chose ``Who Let the Dogs Out?''

By picking the tune, he, like Wain and his choice of Eric Clapton's ``Tears in Heaven,'' effectively mocked the kind of mainstream culture that would allow either song to become a hit. Everything about their deliveries, especially the exaggerated pronunciation of party as ``par-tay,'' signaled a sideways dig on America's hopelessly square.

Recalling the glory of ``The State,'' the three later showed a video about their efforts to land an upscale apartment in New York. After Wain puts the moves on the real estate broker, it's up to the trio to convince an all-black resident board that they're the right tenants. The resulting ``Flashdance''-inspired montage, completely deadpan, nearly made the audience choke on its beer.

The show ended with all three stuck in a cave, flashlights illuminating their faces. To ease their fear, they reiterated that classic existential question: ``Who Let the Dogs Out?'' The answer, of course, was Tony Danza, whose name they swore they'd incorporate into the show when we least expected it.